85% of All Problems .....

[tw]

One need only look at this administration's response on 11 September to appreciate their credentials. The top man is an MBA who never ran a single successful company. This author repeatedly cites the primary reason for failure and death - reasons that many who are too 'politically connected' cannot appreciate. Those contrarians with political agendas instead see political motives everywhere. Meanwhile 85% of all problems are directly traceable to the real enemies of America - bad management.

Every engineer said don't launch the Challenger. Management murdered seven astronauts. Engineers were desperately seeking information that would have saved seven Columbia astronauts. Again, bean counting mentalities - especially cited is Mission manager Linda Ham - for all but wanting to kill those astronauts. This because of a management style based in business schools AND not based in product oriented thinking. Previously noted in The Cellar was a dogged engineer Richard Roche who desperately attempted to save those lives:
Dogged Engineer's Effort To Assess Shuttle Damage in 23 Sept 2003 NY Times

Other symptoms of MBA management include a benchmark boondoggle: an $80+ billion Space Station that does no science. Top management spending money on useless endeavors are exemplified by George Jr's changes to the Space program that even makes "The ISS is ... a useless bit of money gobbling metal in orbit." (quoted sentence corrected to agree with what we now know to be true).

So what is the strategic objective? Is it the product? Or the greater glory of MBA trained managers?

If those symptoms of bad management were not obvious, need we also cite New Orleans? Or the FBI whose lab was falsifying test results, translators ordered to slow down or were accused when they discovered coworkers working as spies, internal security investigator (Hanssen) actually working for the Russians for decades, a long list of suspects falsely accused as spies, the bungled anthrax investigation, George Jr political appointees who literally ordered FBI agents off of investigations that would have discovered the 11 September attackers, firing this nation's #1 anti-terrorist investigator (John O'Neill) only because he was *shouting* the truth .... and now this.

One poster in the Cellar was an employee of SAIC. What he could not discuss was a project he was (probably) working on. The new FBI computer system started during George Jr's first year. It went downhill fast due to management.

It's bad enough that MBAs throw money at problems like grenades, refuse to admit that quality control inspectors mean decreased quality, promote the mythical man-month, and somehow create magic expressions in a belief it will solve problems (ie 'Quality Control Circles' or 'Faster, Cheaper and Better'). The last was why well over $200 million spent on a Virtual Case File (VCF) was wasted from the very beginning.

One symptom of bad management was demonstrated by a SAIC employee, Mathew Patton, who desperately tried to call top management's attention to a system chock full of security defects. What Mathew did not realize is that those failures were embedded by top management because of who they are. Using classic MBA school management techniques. Mathew posted a desperate cry for help in a discussion groups:
InfoSec News (isn_at_c4i.org)

I work on the FBI's new Trilogy program ... and at every turn all I get are really lame excuses why security isn't important - the chief one being "we're all good guys, everyone has a gun, and we all have TS security clearances, we use KG84's [encryption hardware] to encrypt our trunk lines, etc." Like I'm supposed to be impressed. Proving to me or any auditor that the network is demonstrably secure is impossible. As the very FBI repeatedly asserts, 80+% of the threat is internal. Are they under the delusion that the same figure doesn't apply to them? No less after all the moles and traitors they've unearthed in the not too distant past?

Am I nuts to object strongly to the notion that Windows(tm) can be explicitly and fully trusted to provide authentication and prove identity of the person on the other end of the keyboard, especially when the desktop's security is very much in question and the FBI wants to have non-repudiatable logging of user activity?

Management trained to meet the definition of patriotic American would have immediately sought this engineer out and started asking what would have been embarrassing questions. But that was not Sherry Higgins who read the post, took it as a threat (as an MBA manager must when loyalty is more important than the project), and reported Patton to the FBI's Security Division. You tell me where anything there was a violation of national security. Meanwhile, Sherry Higgins even has a scrapbook full of internal FBI correspondences which she shares openly.

Another symptom of bad management - they demand loyalty - they demand the employees work for them, rather than top management working for the employees. The latter is essential for quality. The former is a dictatorship - as taught in communism and business schools.

The enemy of MBA management is a patriot called a whistle blower. Whistle blowers are not loyal - according to MBA training - because only management (not the product) is important. Another symptom of MBA management - they prosecute the patriots who 'blow the whistle'.

BTW, what was Sherry Higgin's previous job? She ran a help desk for AT&T and then for Lucent. I can find no programming experience in her background. But she meets the criteria set forth all through George Jr's "we demand loyalty" administration: from the top man right through Fatherland Security, and into FEMA managers who also murdered hundreds in New Orleans. Or Linda Ham who did everything she could to kill seven Columbia astronauts. Or the MBA and lawyer in First Energy who knew nothing about electricity or utilities, continued to operate a nuclear reactor with a known Three Mile Island problem that we later learned could have taken out Toledo, and who create the Northeast blackout.

A wasted $107 million just for SAIC written software alone was completely avoided had management enough guts to even listen to their own outside consultants who said on Sept 2002 that 1) the FBI should create an enterprise architecture to guide the development of its IT system, and .... yes anyone with simplest computer knowledge would understand this .... 2) the flash cutover from their existing ACS system to the new VCF system should not occur all at once.

Appreciate the total stupidity there. Some details. The existing ACS system that had all FBI case files would be shut down on Friday. On Monday, the entire FBI would be running on a new VCF system with no way back or access of the original working database. If the ACS did not work, then all FBI case files were not accessible. This was deemed by top FBI and SAIC project management as a good way to implement a completely new (and later found to be woefully untested) database system for all ongoing FBI investigations.

Is there any reader here who does not find that to be stupid? But then who were the managers of this project? People who would even prosecute a whistler blower - another symptom of MBA management.

Up top was listed the MBA managers solution to the problem. "Faster, cheaper, and better". Good slogans as taught in business management school. Reality: at best, only two can only be accomplished. Anyone with dirt under their fingernails would know that. Sherry Higgins couldn't. Her previous experience was management - running a technical help desk department.

So we know Mathew Patton was truly being loyal. We know that MBA management always hates honesty when it might expose incompetent management. We know what SAIC was doing in VA just outside Washington. It’s called a 'beltway bandit'.

BTW, the system being replaced - Automated Case Support or ACS - was considered by management to be 'state of the art' in 1995 ... using 3270 green screen, IBM, text only monitors connected by dedicated serial cables to an IBM mainframe computer (probably running Timeshare). Ok. Not everyone will appreciate the joke here. That was what advanced computing once was in 1968. By 1990 - five years earlier - even homes had networking and PCs when the FBI was upgrading to text only, green screen 3270 IBM monitors. Anybody yet smell classic MBA trained managers?

Just because FBI agents had to go home, use their home computers, to access FBI database or send e-mail - something that FBI field office equipment could not do - is not a symptom that the top management is bad? Bull. 85% of all problems are directly traceable to top management. When that top management says there is plenty of blame to go around, then you know 99% of all problems are directly traceable to the top man. You know him. He's the one who says the buck stops at him - but then blames anyone who blows the whistle. Or says mistakes were made elsehwhere. Classic MBA mentality from the same schools that George Jr partied at.

Defined is but another example of failures directly traceable to top management that does not come from where the work gets done.

[Griff]

Top Management

A fiscal hurricane was brewing in President George W. Bush's speech to the nation in New Orleans. "We will rebuild this great city," he declared. "No matter the cost." Congress readily authorized an appropriation of $62 billion to address the flood-disaster needs.

Politicians are already talking about two hundred billion dollars for the net expenditure. Some say it will go much higher.

Two hundred billion dollars! Does anyone in the federal government realize how close this comes to paving the streets of New Orleans with gold?

The appalling political cynicism of this relief effort is revealed with a simple arithmetic calculation. Just divide two hundred billion dollars in reconstruction money by the one million residents of the city, and you get two hundred thousand dollars for every man, woman, and child in New Orleans!

For a typical suburban family of four, this means an expenditure of eight hundred thousand dollars. You could not only rebuild their home – but raze it and rebuild it, raze it and rebuild it – and then, raze it and rebuild it. And still you would have money left over!

It's easy enough to understand where the floodwaters went, but just where is this flood of money going?

Let's pretend that we've mutated into socialists and our sense of guilt compels us to upgrade everyone's living quarters. But come on – million-dollar homes for welfare mothers with four children? Even the looniest Swedish Social Democrat wouldn't go there!

So will the money be invested instead in the infrastructure of the streets outside the homes?

Well, here's one truly 'golden' way of picturing it.

If you allow that an ounce of gold can cover a square foot of pavement, and that gold is currently costing about four hundred dollars an ounce, then for two hundred thousand dollars per person, you could cover five hundred square feet. This is twenty-five feet of suburban street front. A family of four would be accorded a hundred feet of street front. That would be enough to span the street frontage of a typical suburban home lot.

Thus, by asking for two hundred billion dollars, President Bush is coming within an order of magnitude of literally paving the streets of New Orleans with gold.

[glatt]

In case I haven't been clear in my previous posts on the topic:
1) I think it's foolish to rebuild a city that lies below sea level.
2) I hate President Bush.

[BigV]

Careful now. Think how high the sea would rise if his head were held underwater. Yah, I know, the good with the bad...

[busterb]

Belive it or not, "news media." some of us in deep shit don't live in New Orleans.
OXB sent me this today.
Things I have learned from watching the news on TV during the last eight days:
" The hurricane only hit black families' property
" New Orleans was devastated and no other city was affected by the hurricane
" Mississippi is reported to have a tree blown down
" New Orleans has no white people
" The hurricane blew a limb off a tree in the yard of an Alabama resident
" When you are hungry after a hurricane, steal a big screen TV
" The hurricane did 23 billion dollars in improvements to New Orleans: now the city is free of welfare, looters and gangs, they are all in your city.
" White folks don't make good news stories
" Don't give thanks to the thousands that came to help rescue you, instead bitch because the government hasn't given you a debit card yet
" Only black family members got separated in the hurricane rescue efforts
" Ignore warnings to evacuate and the government will come get you and give you money for being stupid

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Griff

Top Management



Two hundred billion dollars! Does anyone in the federal government realize how close this comes to paving the streets of New Orleans with gold?

The appalling political cynicism of this relief effort is revealed with a simple arithmetic calculation. Just divide two hundred billion dollars in reconstruction money by the one million residents of the city, and you get two hundred thousand dollars for every man, woman, and child in New Orleans!

For a typical suburban family of four, this means an expenditure of eight hundred thousand dollars. You could not only rebuild their home – but raze it and rebuild it, raze it and rebuild it – and then, raze it and rebuild it. And still you would have money left over!

Is the $200 billion only for the city? There's a lot more that needs to be rebuilt than just the city. There is also a lot of debris that needs to be removed before rebuilding can start, and a lot of infrastructure that has to be inspected to determine whether it needs to be razed and rebuilt. The people also need assistance while the cleanup and rebuilding are going on. The levees need to be repaired, and improved, as do the pumps.

There's a lot more to a city than the houses.

[xoxoxoBruce]

And there's hundreds of square miles outside the city that need rebuilding.
Unless of course they just take in by E.D. (thank you supreme court) and hand it to developers.

No...what was I thinking...first we'll pay to clean it up, then hand it over.

[tw]

Let's not forget for a minute why George Jr gave that speech. The recovery of New Orleans is being headed by Karl Rove. The actual rebuilding has no plans - no strategic objective. It's all about throwing money at a problem - the classic MBA management solution. Even the BBC was blunt about throwing money at something without any plan.

If we leave any part of New Orleans vacant, then people will call it the George W Bush Memorial. Obviously reality and intelligent design has no place here. This is all about the political image of George Jr. He knows he can throw as much money as he wants at anything - and we don't care until four years later when another president must raise taxes to pay for that bill. More important for George Jr in New Orleans: pave over any indication of his gross mismanagement. If paved in gold, it does not matter. We will not complain. And Halliburton, et al get more contracts.

We forget that Clinton had a flooding problem far more devastating - the entire Upper Mississippi. Not only were people removed in time, but rescue for others actually worked. Back then FEMA was staffed with professionals - many of whom left in during the first George Jr administration when funding for FEMA was being cut everywhere. Classic MBA cost control mentality and what happens when lawyers declare themselvs as experienced in emergency management.

Clinton rebuilt cities such as Grafton IL where floods no longer cause damage. Spring 2002 floods no longer caused destructive flooding. FEMA did not build bigger levees. It addressed the problem using product oriented thinking because top management was a good and responsible. Read George Jr's autobiography to appreciate how disorganized his mind really is; to appreciate why he would appoint political hacks.

George Jr must build New Orleans levees higher so that open land in the Ninth Ward will not remind us that George Jr appointed lawyers who then let hundreds of blacks and so many whites die uselessly. Fix problems by throwing money into land beneath the sea. Don't do the right thing. MBA management is not about solving problems. Its about loyalty - making the boss look good no matter what. Worry firstmost about the political reputation of George Jr - no matter what it costs. Plans. He needs no stink'n plans. He's a business school graduate. Getting dirty hands was never his job. 85% of all problems directly traceable to top management? They don't teach that in business school.

[busterb]

TW. I didn't vote for that cocksucker. And btw, what's the hard on for mba's? Your so busy tell us WTF's wrong. But I see no suggestion as to how to fix this 1 wheel wagon called the Bush administration. Boy I feel better now, after filling out a bunch of papers for SBA, so the can prove I have not shit and can't get a loan. So Maybe a BIG grant.

[tw]

Originally Posted by busterb

TW. what's the hard on for mba's?

Name a disaster and you will find management was doing exactly what was taught in the business schools. Up front, some good reasons are described in that long post. Product oriented thinking: your boss works for you. MBA management: you boss demands loyalty at all costs which means you work for your boss.

Pick a disaster. Three Mile Island. The CA energy swindle or Enron. The Challenger. The NE blackout that also included a destructive threat to Toledo, the Seaside Heights blackout before and during 4 July when those boardwalk vendors make most of their money for the year, and residents being electrically shocked in their own swimming pools in S Jersey. The Pinto. The US Steel manufacturing industry. Firorina destructive tenure at HP. Linda Ham who did everything she could to murder seven Columbia astronauts. MBA philosophies are prevalent when disasters occur.

After all, what makes America so great? What is essential to the existence of liberty? Innovation. What do business school philosophies routinely stifle? Innovation. That was not obvious by now? And what is George Jr's education? MBA.

[Cyclefrance]

Don't know enough about MBAs (and seems no reason/encouragement why I should want to), but an adage that stands good for all situations is one I learned from the systems approach I subscribe to , namely ' show me how you measure me and I will show you how I perform'

I am sure you see the same problems in US we have here. For example, someone comes along, digs up a road, lays a gas pipe, patches the road, goes away. Two weeks later someone else come along digs up te same roda, lays an electric cable, patches the road, goes away. a month later - well you get the picture.

Having adequate funds is one thing, and $200 billion does sound a tad generous(!) but what will be important (and a pleasant change) is to see the money spent wisely. For that the objective needs to be something other than 'get it done and hang the cost'. Give that as the objective and you have a recipe for waste and chaos.

I'm all for quality control if it is in the right place - no point doing a quality check when the jobs finished if it reveals that things were done wrong in the early stages - the checks need to be appropriate to the situation. For that you need planning which only means sitting down and working out what you need to do and in what order before you actually go ahead and do it. And that isn't just a once off exercise - it's a continuous process which allows you to react and respond to issues at the time this is most effective.

That's what you have to do. Bloody simple really when you think about it!

Would anyone really start out on a journey to somewhere they didn't have a clue the best way to get to the destination, without looking at what's involved and planning a suitable route first. And even then, how many times would you you stop and check that you weren't deviating from the route and incurring unnecessary time and expense as a result...? (second thoughts, maybe you shouldn't answer that!).

It's a shame we have this culture that says it is better to be seen to be doing something rather than nothing and that this then translates as needing action first and thought after (as though thought is not doing something).

[Undertoad]

Money thrown at problem lands as dollar bills on strip club stage:

There were virtually no restrictions on the use of the cards and so the definition of "necessities" acquired some latitude. Louis Vuitton did a roaring trade in handbags in the Houston area and a good deal was dropped, as it were, at some of the city’s finest adult entertainment establishments.

Interviewed by a reporter for the local TV station, Abby over at Baby Dolls said she had seen many clients using their debit cards. She had nothing but praise for this exercise in government largesse. "A lot of customers have been coming in from Louisiana and they’ve been real happy about the $1.75 beers and they’re really nice." It was only fair, she added that they should get a little publicly funded help. "You lost your whole house, then, why not?" she said. "You might want some beer in a strip club. There are a lot of guys out there that like to do that."

[Hobbs]

Originally Posted by busterb

Belive it or not, "news media." some of us in deep shit don't live in New Orleans.
OXB sent me this today.
Things I have learned from watching the news on TV during the last eight days:
" The hurricane only hit black families' property
" New Orleans was devastated and no other city was affected by the hurricane
" Mississippi is reported to have a tree blown down
" New Orleans has no white people
" The hurricane blew a limb off a tree in the yard of an Alabama resident
" When you are hungry after a hurricane, steal a big screen TV
" The hurricane did 23 billion dollars in improvements to New Orleans: now the city is free of welfare, looters and gangs, they are all in your city.
" White folks don't make good news stories
" Don't give thanks to the thousands that came to help rescue you, instead bitch because the government hasn't given you a debit card yet
" Only black family members got separated in the hurricane rescue efforts
" Ignore warnings to evacuate and the government will come get you and give you money for being stupid

The one I come away with everytime is

" There is only one street that was flooded in New Orleans - Canal street all other streets have been spared.

[busterb]

Well take a look at this site from the SBA, which sent me a pile on papers to file. Think MS. ain't sucking hind tit? Then look at other states and see how many centers they have open. Guess Trent Lott pissed bush off?
http://www.sba.gov/disasterarea2/mis...-locations.pdf

[BigV]

two? for the whole freakin state?

Hey, tw, you're missin out on some really good raw material here!